With just one game remaining on any team’s schedule, the hope would be to control their chance at an appearance in their conference championship game, and that’s the case for No. 6-ranked Oregon.

With a win against in-state rivals No. 15 Oregon State, a spot in the Pac-12 championship -- and a much-anticipated rematch -- against No. 4 Washington awaits.

The Ducks control their destiny, and on Monday, head coach Dan Lanning discussed what it would take to execute and earn the desired spot in that game.

Here are our top takeaways from Lanning’s press conference:

Though the Ducks had a chance at appearing in the Pac-12 championship with a win the last time these two sides met, they didn’t control their destiny like they do this week. That being said, a game against one’s in-state rival, a turf war, it’s always important to take care of business.

Oregon seemed to be doing just that, leading Oregon State 31-10 with 3 minutes and change left in the third quarter. That is until the Beavers pounded back, finishing the game on 19 consecutive run plays and downing the Ducks 38-34, the Beavers' second win in the series the last three seasons.

“They beat us in all three phases,” Lanning said Monday night, reflecting back. “But certainly, their ability to run the ball at the end of the game was a detriment; us getting the ball down inside the 10 with an opportunity to score and not finishing; some poor special teams play. We just didn’t have our best performance.”

While a number of the members of the 2023 iteration of the Ducks played a significant part in that, and remember it vividly, this is a different group, in personnel and approach. The Beavers were more physical than the Ducks, then, and that manifested itself in an effective ground game.

This season, Oregon’s ranked No. 10 in rush defense, conceding just 96.2 yards per game to opposing rushers.

“We have great talent, and guys that are executing their job at a really high level,” Lanning said.

They’ll need to be at their best as they face the Pac-12’s second best running back from a yards-per-game (104.27) standpoint in Damien Martinez.

Martinez certainly did all he could last week to sustain the Beavers’ Pac-12 championship hopes, rushing for 123 yards and 2 touchdowns on 26 carries in Oregon State's 22-20 loss to Washington.

No disrespect to D.J. Uiagalelei, but Martinez is the engine that drives their offense, the decoy whose backfield presence opens up their play-action.

“He’s a special one,” Lanning said. “He gets the tough yards.”

The Beavers employ a system to get Martinez’s nose downhill, but he’s lethal on counters that spear toward the outside and uses jump cuts on runs that begin outside and trail back in.

While Lanning acknowledged the talent at running back that the Ducks have faced in the past, they haven’t seen the likes of Martinez. In games against USC and California earlier this season, Jaydn Ott and MarShawn Lloyd weren’t active, so the defensive front will have to be ready for a test like none other they’ve seen this year, in a conference where most of those come against quarterbacks.

And Martinez has been at his best of late with three straight 100-yard games, reeling off 115 yards vs. Colorado, 146 and 4 touchdowns vs. Stanford and then the aforementioned performance vs. the Huskies last week.

Oregon State’s 22-20 loss to Washington last week fell on the shoulders of Uiagalelei at the end as the Beavers had the ball with 6 minutes remaining and their go-ahead drive stalled at midfield.

Even with those struggles, Lanning has seen the Clemson QB transfer improve each week.

“He has a big arm,” he said. “Can really throw the ball down the field and is doing a really good job of running their offense.”

Lanning also mentioned the threat Uiagalelei poses as a scrambler and rusher. However, a ton of his success feeds off the Beavers' effective running game.

“They’re a shot team,” Lanning said. “They really use their run game to set up their play-action passes and have done a really good job in the screen game, as well.”

While the Ducks defensive line will have to focus on Martinez, its secondary and linebackers must remain disciplined, wary of fake handoffs that turn into game-breaking passes.

Uiagalelei has passed for 2,418 yards, 20 touchdowns and 6 interceptions overall.

Since the day Oregon decided to leave the Pac-12 for the Big Ten, reporters have questioned Lanning about the Ducks' intentions to continue playing the Beavers — a game that dates back to 1894 but isn’t listed on Oregon’s schedule in 2024.

Though Lanning has little control over the matter, his answer, his enthusiasm was the same then as it is now.

“Games like this are really important,” Lanning said. “It would be great if it’s something we continue to make happen.”

For now, it decides the fate of Oregon’s season.